Alibaba expands in Australian operations
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is stepping up its Australian operations, expanding its alibaba.com site for wholesale trading by Australian companies.
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is stepping up its Australian operations, expanding its alibaba.com site for wholesale trading by Australian companies.
The platform will allow local companies in industries such as food and beverages, agriculture, health and beauty and mining and minerals to pitch their wares to buyers around the world.
Alibaba.com is one of the world’s largest B2B e-commerce platforms, operating in more than 190 countries.
Its general manager of operations in Australia and New Zealand, Pier Smulders, said his company had appointed Sydney-based marketing company Yaru Ventures to help Australian companies use the platform.
Established by Will Zhao, the former Shanghai-based chief executive of Metcash Asia, Yaru specialises in helping companies gain market entry into China and South East Asia.
“Alibaba is bringing more global opportunities to the Australian market with enhanced local support and services,” Mr Smulders said.
“Appointing our new official partner, Yaru Ventures will make it easier for local businesses to tap into global opportunities through programs tailored to their needs.”
Alibaba’s operations in Australia in the past have largely focused on Australian companies selling products to Chinese consumers such as healthcare products through platforms like Tmall Global.
Companies like Chemist Warehouse, Blackmores and Swisse have been active users of those business-to-consumer platforms.
A business-to-business marketing platform, Alibaba.com dates back to Alibaba’s original roots as a platform for global buyers to source goods from China.
More than 40 million buyers sourced business opportunities or completed transactions on the program in the year to the end of March 2022.
Mr Smulders said some of Australia’s largest export destinations, including the US, Japan and Indonesia, were among the top buying countries on the Alibaba.com platform.
He said Australia was known globally for exporting high quality products.
“With the global pandemic, buyers worldwide are now paying more attention to how products are made and what they are made of,” he said. “Australian brands have developed a global reputation of clean, healthy and safe, which is hitting the right spot and generating high levels of interest and demand across the world.”
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